Everyone was waiting for the Flame Demon to burst out of the portal and deliver their final judgment. But just as they held their breath, expecting to greet death in the next second, the portal fell silent once more.
Everyone on the battlefield, both humans and demons, waited for the Flame Demon's appearance. Yet, it was as if the demon was a rebellious child, refusing to do what was asked. They all felt cold sweat trickle down their faces, unable to make even the slightest movement. The Flame Demon's appearance would signify the futility of everything.
Aise, recovering her senses, tugged at the shadow clone's clothes. "We should flee quickly. The Flame Demon isn't refusing to come out; the portal is too small, and the energy isn't sufficient to transport him. The Flame Demon must be reinforcing the energy supply for the opposing portal right now. According to my estimation, it will take at most one minute, and at longest three minutes, for the portal to accommodate the Flame Demon's transfer. By then, escape will be impossible."
The shadow clone carefully observed the portal. It was just as Aise had said; the portal, a full five meters high, was slowly growing larger. In the time it took to exchange these few sentences, it had expanded by more than thirty centimeters.
Since it couldn't come through immediately, there was still hope. The shadow clone formed a plan and said to Aise, "You all hold them off for a while. I'm going to rescue Lord Mourinho. Perhaps he has a solution."
Time was of the essence. Li Xi, as soon as he finished speaking, sprinted away at incredible speed. The others didn't know if Li Xi was genuinely going to save the Dragonkin or making an excuse to escape. However, seeing the lesser demons that were still remnants in the canyon and were once again sweeping towards them, everyone resolutely picked up their weapons. "Prepare for battle."
The shadow clone ran a considerable distance before finding its original body, which had been blasted into a large pit in the ground, following the direction it had been thrown.
The executioner's blade, after severing three large trees, finally came to rest, stuck in the ground nearby, with only its hilt protruding.
The shadow clone surveyed its original body, which was bleeding from the mouth, its face pale as gold paper, with numerous broken scales. Its pair of red dragon wings now hung limply like tattered sacks. "How are you? How much longer can you live?"
Li Xi couldn't help but roll his eyes. This was his shadow clone. Anyone else would have been dealt with by a blade long ago.
"What's the situation on that side?"
The shadow clone smiled slightly and formed a hand seal. "You can see for yourself."
"Disperse."
With a "bang," the shadow clone vanished. A segment of memory flowed into Li Xi's mind, and at the same time, half of his strength returned to his body, giving the weakened Li Xi a sliver of confidence. He let out a comfortable sigh. The memories from when the shadow clone and he had separated were processed in mere seconds.
His body twitched slightly, and pain shot through him. Approximately seven or eight bones were broken, a large area of dragon scales was shattered, and the aftereffects of the green spinach pill were ravaging his body.
"It's actually a Flame Demon. I've only been transmigrated for less than two months, and I have to face this top-tier demon. My life is truly bitter."
Now that he knew who his opponent was and that the Flame Demon wouldn't be able to emerge within a minute, there was a chance of victory. It wasn't time to flee yet. Li Xi calmly took out the yellow curry pill.
This item had an excellent effect on physical recovery. He popped it into his mouth and swallowed gently. The pill slid down to his stomach, and a warm energy began to repair his body. The aftereffects of the green spinach pill were also gradually subsiding.
In just two seconds, his broken bones healed, new scales grew, and the damaged areas of his dragon wings regenerated. His body returned to its peak condition. Moreover, as the medicinal effect took hold, his strength was further enhanced, quickly surpassing the limit of the green spinach pill, essentially reaching four times his original power.
This strength was already considerable, providing an overwhelming advantage against the twenty lesser demons he had faced earlier. Yet, against the Flame Demon, he was as powerless as a child fighting an adult. Li Xi recalled the Flame Demon's previous attack and instantly had a plan.
As long as it couldn't teleport over, the advantage was mine.
"Whoosh."
He spread his dragon wings, pulled the executioner's blade from the ground, and shot towards the canyon like a cannonball.
By this time, the remaining lesser demons in the canyon had been dealt with by Aise and the others. If no new lesser demons were teleported through the portal, all the surviving lesser demons would be returned to the abyss within minutes.
The disabled horned demons still lay on the ground. Seeing Li Xi fly back, their already limited intelligence was once again dominated by the abyssal consciousness. They struggled to rise and kill Li Xi, as did the remaining lesser demons, chasing after Li Xi like Kuafu eternally pursuing the sun.
Aise and the others felt a glimmer of relief upon seeing the Dragonkin return. Facing a common enemy, even when defeat seemed certain, the courage to fight on and refuse to yield was inspiring. However, Li Xi's absence left them with a strange sense of unease. Though they knew he wasn't that kind of person, it didn't prevent a subtle worry from lingering.
Li Xi dared not waste any time. The green spinach pill lasted for fifteen seconds, and the yellow curry pill's effect was also short-lived, lasting only twenty seconds. Five seconds had already passed since his recovery.
He raised the executioner's blade again, adopting the stance of Erlang Shen, who split Mount Peach to rescue his mother, and swung it towards the portal once more.
The executioner's blade, with the spirit of "succeed or die," tore through everything in its path. The humans on the ground unconsciously held their breath again, their hearts in their throats. This was their last hope. If he succeeded, everyone would live; if he failed, they would all meet death.
If nothing unexpected had happened, Li Xi's current strength should have been enough to shatter the portal. But the unexpected happened.
A hammer, the size of a dwarf's house, emerged from the portal again, smashing towards Li Xi with unstoppable force.
The power carried by the hammer was so immense that even the expanding portal groaned, emitting a "sizzling" sound as if it couldn't bear the weight, like an old car being driven beyond its limits, on the verge of breakdown.
Several mercenaries, witnessing the reappearance of the Flame Demon's weapon, felt their hearts plummet from their throats back to their heels, cold and disheartened.
"It's over."
"Lord Mourinho couldn't even block it."
Li Xi looked at the familiar hammer and smiled faintly. His wings flapped to their limit, pulling his body. Previously he had been falling, but now he moved upwards, halting his descent and intensifying his downward swing, spinning himself into a colossal top.
Do not underestimate the mere half-meter his wings pulled him. This half-meter allowed Li Xi to avoid being severely injured. He dodged the hammerhead almost face-to-face, the heat from the hammerhead even singeing his hair.
With his body pulled to its limit, Li Xi dodged the hammerhead, creating an opportunity for the executioner's blade. After a full rotation, the executioner's blade struck heavily at the junction between the hammerhead and its handle. The already world-destroying power of the great hammer, amplified by Li Xi's force in the same direction, was sent crashing towards the distant mountain wall at an even faster speed.
With a deafening "boom," the hammer hit the canyon wall. A hammer weighing over ten thousand pounds, or over ten tons, directly caused a section of the mountain wall to collapse.
As for Li Xi, using the force of the impact to send the great hammer flying, he didn't stop his rotation. Instead, with an even faster swing, he struck the portal.
Perhaps Li Xi's maneuver caught the Flame Demon off guard. This time, there was no time to stop Li Xi's action. The six-meter-high, abyss-dark portal was struck by the executioner's blade. A "crackling" sound echoed. Even though it only penetrated half an inch, this half-inch disrupted the portal's energy balance, and subtle cracks began to form beneath the blade.
"It's effective."
Li Xi did not dare to let his guard down until the very last critical moment. He transformed into a deathly top, continuously and heavily striking the same spot on the portal, causing the cracks to grow larger. In mere breaths, dozens of heavy blows turned the initially subtle cracks into half-meter-long, chopstick-thick fissures, through which the dark, alien dimension behind could be seen.
At this point, even without Li Xi's continuous assault, the cracks would inevitably lead to the portal's complete destruction. The large cracks Li Xi had carved, like a flourishing tree trunk, were constantly sprouting smaller ones. In the blink of an eye, the portal was covered in a dense network of cracks.
Seeing hope, Aise and the others rushed to help Li Xi. However, the two thousand meters separating them from the canyon entrance meant that by the time they arrived, it would be too late.
Just as Li Xi believed the situation was under control, a finger, one meter long and bearing demonic patterns, emerged from within the portal. Small cracks on it were dripping black blood.
Seeing the finger, Li Xi smiled. "If you had continued to attack me with your weapon, I might have been afraid. But since you're using your flesh, I won't be polite."
Li Xi ignored the outstretched hand and instead extended the executioner's blade into the portal. He then proceeded to attack the unseen Flame Demon's hand from within.
When he first encountered the horned demons, his curved blade was completely ineffective against them. However, the steel needle he had shot into the portal had pierced a horned demon's forehead. At the time, Li Xi couldn't understand why. Later, he realized that during teleportation, within the limited transport space, the demon's body would become very fragile for a period, so fragile that even a powerful horned demon could be wounded by a steel needle worth twenty copper coins.
The same logic applied now. He extended the executioner's blade into the portal, confident he could wound the Flame Demon.
Since Li Xi couldn't see what was happening inside, he had to rely on the sensations transmitted back through the executioner's blade for judgment.
He could feel as if countless attacks were hitting the executioner's blade as soon as it entered the portal. These attacks didn't feel like they were from demons. Combining this with the wounds on the Flame Demon's finger, Li Xi guessed that his disruption of the portal had created spatial rifts inside, causing the Flame Demon to be injured, and his executioner's blade was attacked the moment it entered.
Li Xi carefully hid behind the Flame Demon's finger and watched as a black light cluster formed at the fingertip. This was the Flame Demon preparing to unleash magic. Li Xi dared not leave his fate to the Flame Demon's mercy.
In this race against time, it was a contest of speed against the Flame Demon. The faster one would win; the slower one would die. Feeling the position was right, he swung down heavily, a clean and decisive cut transmitted from the executioner's blade to his hand.
"I hit it."
Two black fingers, each a meter long, fell outside the portal, their cut surfaces smooth, clearly the work of the executioner's blade. The black light cluster that was about to form dissipated. Simultaneously, a muffled groan came from within the portal. The hand, gushing large amounts of black blood, was rapidly withdrawn.
"Abyssal Curse Bearer, Dragonkin, you have actually wounded me. You are worthy of me remembering your name. Now, please tell me your name."
Li Xi's exchange with the Flame Demon was completed in an instant. The portal was already shattering on a large scale. Unless a god came to repair it, no one would be able to teleport through it today. Even if the Flame Demon teleported, the one entering on the other side as a complete Flame Demon would emerge on this side as fragmented pieces of various sizes.
Since safety was assured, Li Xi felt relieved. He smiled at the Flame Demon on the abyssal side and said, "Flame Demon, remember that the one who cut off your finger is called Mourinho."
Li Xi chuckled inwardly. Go ahead and search for me by name; I guarantee you'll never find me.
The portal was now only the size of a fist. The Flame Demon's final voice came from the abyssal side: "Mourinho, a good name. I remember your scent."